Basil of Caesarea → Libanius
Tradução moderna em inglês
I've read your speech and admired it enormously. O Muses! O learning! O Athens — what gifts you give to those who love you! What harvests are reaped by those who spend even a little time in your company! Oh, to drink from that abundantly flowing fountain of yours! What remarkable men it produces in all who taste it! In your speech I seemed to see the man himself [likely a comic character], together with his chattering little wife. Libanius alone has written a living story — one that breathes — and in doing so has given his words the gift of life itself.
Texto latino / grego
[Πρός: Βασίλειος Λιβανίῳ] Ἀνέγνων τὸν λόγον, σοφώτατε, καὶ ὑπερτεθαύμακα. ὦ Μοῦσαι, καὶ λόγοι, καὶ Ἀθῆναι, οἷα τοῖς ἐρασταῖς δωρεῖσθεϲ οἵους κομίζονται τοὺς καρπούς, οἱ βραχύν τινα χρόνον ὑμῖν συγγινόμενοιϲ ὦ πηγῆς πολυχεύμονος, οἵους ἔδειξε τοὺς ἀρυομένουσϲ αὐτὸν γὰρ ἐδόκουν ὁρᾷν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ λάλῳ συνόντα γυναίῳ. ἔμπνουν γὰρ λόγον ἐπὶ χθονὸς Λιβάνιος ἔγραψεν, ὃς μόνος τοῖς λόγοις ψυχὴν ἐχαρίσατο.
Texto inglês de origem
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA Basil to Libanius. I have read your speech, and have immensely admired it. O muses; O learning; O Athens; what do you not give to those who love you! What fruits do not they gather who spend even a short time with you! Oh for your copiously flowing fountain! What men all who drink of it are shown to be! I seemed to see the man himself in your speech, in the company of his chattering little woman. A living story has been written on the ground by Libanius, who alone has bestowed the gift of life upon his words.